Rise of Noir Mask
by Count Morningstar
Summary: Part 1 of the Noir Mask Trilogy. Before she was Noir Mask, she was a girl who was betrayed by her friends and family and accused of a crime she didn't commit. To escape she joined an army of evil. To survive she dawned a mask. And to gain revenge she will use the power of one of the darkest Legendary Pokemon of them all. Origin story of an OC.
1. Prisoner 64389

**Introduction:** Back when I started Fire for Ice, I came up with an OC that ended up taking on a life of her own, an elite Team Rocket agent known as Noir Mask. So far Noir Mask has appeared in my other two Pokemon stories, Fire for Ice, and Trial of the Phoenix. You don't need to read Fire for Ice in order to understand what's going on in this story, but it might be a good idea to read Trial of the Phoenix to help with some of the later chapters. This is basically the origin story of Noir Mask, and explains how she joined Team Rocket.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 1: Prisoner 64389

People throughout time have pondered the concept of hell. In reality, hell is not necessarily a place but a state of mind. It is an endless cycle of agony that repeats itself day after day and year after year. And while there are many common hells, each person's conception of hell differs slightly. Yet while hell is often seen as a plain of the afterlife, it is very possible for it to exist here on earth.

Marie Dantes had found such a hell on earth. Only ten years old and she had been sent to Scorch Gate Prison for an act of grand theft. The prison was located on a dessert island in the furthest outskirts of the Sinnoh Region. Aside from the prison itself, the island was known only to contain sand and rocks, and perhaps a few desert fairing Pokemon. The temperature on the island usually reached the hundreds, and being inside the prison was scarcely better than being out.

Yet the inmates of Scorch Gate were forced to work outside as part of their punishment. They plowed into the ground to find evolution stones, which the island was said to be rich in. That day under the blazing hot sun Marie hulled another wheel barrel full of rocks, as she had done since arriving at the prison a month before. As she pushed the heavy load to the large pile of rocks that had amassed, Marie ran the wheel barrel into another inmate, an older girl who looked to be about sixteen with shoulder-length black hair, crazed-looking light-blue eyes, and a vertical scar on her left cheek.

"Watch it you little brat!" the girl yelled at Marie.

"S-sorry Sharon." Marie said in a frightened tone. "I-I guess I didn't see you there."

This had not been the first time that Marie had had a run in with Sharon. They met on the day Marie had come to Scorch Gate, and quite a few times Sharon and her cohorts had ganged up on Marie and had even beaten her up more than once or twice.

"What, are you blind?" Sharon shouted as she came towards Marie. "How the hell could you not see me standing there?"

"I guess I'm just tired." Marie responded.

"Yeah? Well I'll give you a wakeup call you'll never forget!" Sharon said as she advanced on Marie.

"S-stay back!" Marie warned as she trembled.

"Or what shrimp?" Sharon laughed.

Marie responded by throwing a rock from the wheel barrel at Sharon. The rock hit Sharon right on the forehead, stopping her in her tracks. Suddenly the black metal collar around her neck delivered a painful electric shock that caused her to cry out and fall to her knees.

"Prisoner 64389!" one of the female guards called to Marie. That was after all what Marie had been referred to by the staff since she came to Scorch Guard, for it was the number on the front of the tattered brown rags that made up her prison uniform. "You know the penalty for assaulting the other inmates."

"But, she was going to beat me up!" Marie tried to explain.

"Yeah right, I was just minding my own business when she suddenly threw a rock at me!" Sharon lied. But after speaking she too was given a painful shock from her metal collar.

"Be quite 33132!" the guard commanded after putting away the remote for the collars. "Get back to your work! As for you 64389, it's two hours in the box!"

With that, Marie was dragged away by two other guards to one of the hottest places in the prison.

* * *

Two and a half hours had passed since Marie was punished. She had spent two hours in the hot box, after which she was let out and given some water and a short period of rest. After that she was assigned to sort one of the prison's storerooms. In the distant past, Scorch Gate had originally served as a military fortress. This was shown in the old brick walls that were filled in cracks here and there.

As Marie counted over the various items on the storeroom shelf, shell fell forward a bit due to weariness, causing one of the Pokeballs on the shelf to fall off. She was soon alerted when the ball made a noise as if it had captured a Pokemon, rather than just falling on the floor. Marie looked behind the shelf and saw the ball jiggle on the floor a few times until making the noise that indicated that the capture was complete. After a second's hesitation, Marie went behind the shelf and picked up the ball.

"Well, I guess I caught something." Marie said to herself. "Might as well see what it is."

With that, Marie threw out the ball, and from it emerged a small dark-grey fox. It had red feet, and small red markings above its eyes similar to eyebrows. Its neck was covered in thick black fur, and it had a small tuft of fur on its forehead tipped in red. Marie recognized the Pokemon as a Zorua, a rare Pokemon she had seen in a book once. And it was clear that the little Pokemon was hurt.

"Oh dear! What happened to you?" Marie said with a worried expression as she picked up Zorua. "I suppose you're one of the rare Pokemon the warden keeps around here and sells on the black market. Or at least that's what I overheard from the guards. You must've gotten out of your cage and come in here. But I guess all that doesn't matter. Right now I need to help you."

Marie called Zorua back into the Pokeball and hid it under her uniform. Then she looked around the storeroom for anything that could help heal the little fox's wounds. Marie was fortunate that the storeroom she was inventorying was used for housing items used for treating the Pokemon used by the guards, as well as the Pokeballs sometimes used to capture any native Pokemon on the island that might be useful to the prison. Marie gathered what she could hide in her uniform without causing suspicion and finished up the inventory as quickly as she could. She then informed the guard, and after that guard had checked over Marie's work about five times, Marie was returned to her cell.

Marie's cell was fairly small, and had a single barred window that was directly in the sun. There was no bed in the dust covered brick room, only a worn out mattress and a tattered grey blanket. There was also a toilet in the room, as well as a sink with a bar of soap and a cracked mirror. Marie glanced at herself briefly in that mirror as she reentered the cell. Her long blond hair was strung out by sweat and filth, and she had bags under her violet eyes, indicating a lack of sleep.

But Marie did not dwell on her appearance long. She immediately set to work on healing Zorua. She had used every recovery item she had managed to smuggle out and hopped that it was enough. But after a few minutes, Zorua seemed to improve.

"You feeling better little guy?" Marie asked. Zorua responded by making a somewhat happy noise that resembled a bark. "That's good. You had me really worried there."

Zorua responded by going up to Marie and licking her hand.

"That tickles!" Marie laughed. "Well, I guess I technically caught you, which makes me your trainer. But none of the guards can ever find out about you or else they'll take you away. Understand?"

Zorua nodded and made another barking noise.

"Good. Well, I guess you're wondering what a kid like me is doing in a horrible place like this." Marie inquired. Zorua responded by tilting its head and quirking its brow. "If you asked anyone around here they'd tell you it's because I tried stealing something very valuable. But the truth is I was framed…. I guess I should start by telling you where I come from. I grew up in a place called Lilycove City in the Hoenn Region.

"My family is actually quite rich. We even have our own company, which my father runs. Sounds like a pretty good life, right? Well it all came crashing down on my tenth birthday. Two days before, my class and I went on a school trip to the art museum. They had an old relic simply called the Blue Orb on display. It was actually quite beautiful. When my class was done with our tour I stayed and looked at that orb for I don't know how long. And now I wish I didn't.

"Later that night, the orb was stolen from the museum. No one had a clue as to where it went. But on the morning of my birthday, the police burst into my family's home and demanded to look around. They found the orb in my closest, and I somehow ended up being blamed for stealing it. I kept telling everyone that I didn't do it, but somehow all the evidence said that I did.

"I was found guilty and sentenced to spend ten years in this awful place." Marie told Zorua, and at this point she was on the verge of tears. "And believe it or not, I know who framed me…"

* * *

_One month before being sent to Scorch Gate, Marie was being held in the jail at the Lilycove City Police Station awaiting transport. The trial had only just ended an hour before. As Marie sat in her cell and cried, a young man who looked to be about seventeen entered the room. He had blond hair and violet eyes, and wore a powder-blue suit with a dark-blue tie. Marie right away noticed the young man's arrival and recognized him as her older cousin Andre._

_"W-what are you doing here Andre?" Marie asked in surprised._

_"I came to offer my condolences to you little cousin." Andre said with a solemn expression. "I'm sorry it had to come to this."_

_"But Andre, I didn't steal the orb!" Marie insisted._

_"Oh, I know that fact quite well." Andre said, his expression changing to a cruel smile. "That's because I'm the one that framed you."_

_"You… what?" Marie said with shock and disbelief._

_"Yes, I stole the orb and put it in your closet." Andre bragged. "I also planted evidence and bribed certain members of the police force to make sure you were found guilty."_

_"But, but why?" Marie asked. "Why would you do such a horrible thing?"_

_"It's nothing personal cousin, just business." Andre replied bluntly. "You see with you behind bars, control of our family's company will go to me in the unfortunate event of my dear uncle's death."_

_"But I don't care about our family's company!" Marie told him, once again on the verge of tears._

_"Well perhaps not now, but one day you might." Andre retorted. "And I can't take the risk of you getting in my way. Therefore I had no choice but to send you up the river. Don't worry though; you'll be out in ten years. But by then I'm sure uncle will have disinherited you."_

_With that, Andre turned and began to leave, but just as he reached the door he turned back to face Marie._

_"Oh by the way, I bribed the judge to send you to Scorch Gate Prison." Andre added. "It's a bit harsh for a girl your age, but it's very isolated and I can't risk having you escape. Farewell cousin."_

_With that Andre left, and Marie fell to the floor sobbing._

* * *

"…I tried telling others what Andre had bragged about doing. But of course no one believed me." Marie said as she finished her tale. "You know I used to look up to Andre, but now I hate him!"

Zorua gave Marie a sad look as she started crying again. Suddenly it looked as if an idea came to the little fox Pokemon. It jumped and span in the air, and in a flash of purple light it had transformed into an almost exact copy of Marie.

"What the…?" Marie said in surprise as she got to her feet to face her double. "Wow, you look just like me. How did you do that?"

Marie looked at her double's back and saw that it was not an exact copy. Right over the copy's rear was a puffy dark-grey tail. Marie tugged a little on the tail and suddenly it turned back into Zorua. The little fox snickered at its little trick. And suddenly Marie burst out laughing.

"Oh wow! I've never seen anything like that before!" Marie said as she started to regain her composure. "I haven't laughed like that in a long time. Meeting you has been the only good thing that's happened in this place little friend."

Suddenly a slot at the bottom of the iron door to Marie's cell opened and in slid a tray of food and a tin cup of water.

"Well, I guess it's time for dinner." Marie observed. "I know it's not much, but I'll split it with you."

Zorua made a barking noise to signal its approval, and the two split the little food and water that Marie was given for the night.

* * *

_Rain poured down from the grey overcast sky as Marie ran through the field. It seemed that the whole world had turned grey. Marie kept running until she entered a large field filled with flowers. This as the park that was one of her favorite spots, and it was also where she was going to meet the person who she was going to run away with, the one person who believed that she was innocent. Marie looked around frantically, afraid that she didn't show up, but it wasn't long before she saw her standing a few feet away._

_The person that Marie had found was a girl who looked to be about ten or eleven. She had long raven hair and green eyes. They were eyes that seemed to cast their own light in that grey world. The girl was also wearing a red t-shirt and denim shorts, though in that world her shirt looked more grey than red._

_"There you are Lisa." Marie sighed in relief. "I was afraid you wouldn't show up. C'mon, we should get going before they find us."_

_"…We're not going anywhere." Lisa said coldly._

_"What're you talking about?" Marie asked. "I thought we were going to run away together."_

_Suddenly several police officers emerged from the bushes. Some had even sprung out of the ground like weeds. In an instant they surrounded Marie and Lisa._

_"What's going on here Lisa?" Marie asked with a hurt expression. "You didn't… don't tell me you brought the police here!"_

_"You're a thief Marie." Lisa said coldly. "And like it or not you have to pay for your crimes. Go Phoenix!"_

_Emerging from the ball that Lisa threw out was a tall humanoid creature with a red bird-like face and body. It had grey talons for hands, yellow feet, and long blond hair-like feathers that split down the middle like a V. The creature stood about six feet tall. Marie recognized the Pokemon as a Blaziken._

_"Don't!" Marie begged._

_"You have to pay." Lisa repeated. "Flamethrower Phoenix!"_

_On command Phoenix breathed out a stream of flames that headed for Marie._

* * *

Marie shot up in bed screaming, her brow covered in cold sweat. Zorua woke up soon after as Marie caught her breath. The little fox Pokemon gave Marie a concerned look.

"Sorry I woke you up." Marie said to Zorua with a troubled smile. "But maybe you were having trouble sleeping too. I know I have…. I've had a nightmare every night since coming here. Of course this one was more of a memory, the memory of when I was betrayed by a person I cared about a lot."

Again, Zorua tilted its head and quirked its brow at Marie.

"…I had a good friend when I was growing up." Marie began after a moment. "Her name was Lisa Flare. Our father's worked together closely. I met Lisa when I was five and she was six. We hit it off right away…. Long ago we had decided that we would become Pokemon Trainers and travel the world together.

"The only small problem with that was that Lisa was a year older than I was. A person can't become a trainer until they turn ten. Lisa told me that she'd wait a year so we could start our journey together, but could tell just how much she wanted to go. So I insisted that she go on ahead and told her that I would catch up. I even helped her pick out her first Pokemon, not that she needed much help.

"If it weren't for Andre I would've started my journey already and Lisa and I would be out on the road somewhere. But obviously things didn't turn out that way…. After I was sentenced I managed to escape when I asked to use the restroom. Lisa had come back to visit for my birthday, and I managed to get in touch with her. I told her that we should run away together and it seemed like she agreed. But I soon learned the truth….

"When I went to meet Lisa she had brought the police and I was thrown back in jail…." Marie revealed. At this point she was on the verge of tears yet again. "She betrayed me! She sold me out to the police so they could throw me in jail for something I didn't do! And the worst part of it is that I didn't just think of Lisa as a friend. In fact I think I really… but that doesn't matter now. I don't think I can ever forgive Lisa for what she did. And I know that I can never forgive Andre…. I want to make them pay for what they've done to me."

Zorua made a sad noise and climbed up on Marie's lap. Marie held the little fox close. Meanwhile from a hole where the wall met the floor, the two were unaware that a glowing light-blue eye was watching them.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Marie's last name was borrowed from the hero of _The Count of Monte Cristo_, and her prison number is the same as that of _The Man in the Iron Mask_, minus a few zeros at the end. So there is a little influence from french literature here (or at least films based on french literature).

Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. The Phantom of Scorch Gate

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 2: The Phantom of Scorch Gate

Two years had passed since Marie had come to Scorch Gate. During that awful time she experienced the hot blazing desert sun during the day, and horrid nightmares during the night. Many of the nightmares that Marie experienced were painful memories that were given an added aspect of terror. As a result, Marie had not had a decent night sleep in quite some time. The only good thing about Marie's captivity, and perhaps the only thing keeping her sane, was Zorua, who during the evenings would entertain Marie by using its Illusion ability to change into other Pokemon and even the occasional human.

One particular afternoon Marie had returned to her cell after another hot day of hauling rocks. Once the guard shut the door, Marie let Zoura out of its Pokeball, which she kept close under her tattered rag of a shirt. As Marie looked around the cell while Zorua went over to the mattress, she noticed a stone cup filled with water and a blue flower near a good-sized hole where the floor met the wall.

"Who keeps leaving these things?" Marie asked Zorua. "Are you sure you don't have anything to do with this little guy?"

Zorua made a barking noise that indicated that it knew nothing about the cup and flower. Marie had been finding a cup of water and a flower every afternoon in her cell since meeting Zorua. She had no idea who was leaving them, but she wasn't one to turn down an extra cup of water when it presented itself. Marie drank about half the cup. The water tasted cool and clear as it always did. Wherever the water came from, it was a much better quality than the water handed out by the guards. After finishing her drink, Marie gave the rest of the water to Zorua. The two had always split whatever food and water Marie got between them.

As for the strange blue flower, Marie held onto it. Though she knew it wouldn't last long. Every one of the flowers she had gotten quickly wilted and faded to nothing in the desert heat. But at the very least, it was something pretty for Marie to look at for a little while. Still, Marie couldn't help but wonder just who was leaving the water and flower in the cell.

* * *

The next morning in the prison mess hall, Marie put back her food tray and tried to prepare herself for another long day under the blazing sun. As soon as she put her tray down though, she soon found herself surrounded by three other inmates. One of the three was Sharon. The other two were Sharon's friends. One was a girl with short dark-brown hair about Sharon's age named Cathy. The other girl was also around Sharon's age and had short red hair and arms covered in black tattoos. Marie knew this girl as Kelly.

"Hey shrimp! We have a bone to pick with you." Sharon said as she and her cronies advanced on Marie. "You bumped into me again yesterday with that stupid wheel barrel of yours and made me spill half my canteen! I would've got you for it then except there were too many guards watching. So I'm gonna pay you back right now!"

"I'm sorry, it was an accident!" Marie said in a terrified tone as she was backed against a wall with a large crack in it. "I really didn't mean to, honest!"

"Yeah? Well you're about to be even more sorry shrimp!" Sharon shouted as she raised her fist.

Just as Marie raised her hands in front of her face to block the attack, a glowing light-blue eye began staring at Sharon, Cathy, and Kelly. Sharon noticed the eye, causing her to stop.

"W-what is that thing?" Cathy asked with a terrified expression.

"Dunno, but I'm not staying to find out!" Kelly responded before running off. Sharon and Cathy followed soon after.

Marie lowered her hands after realizing that Sharon and the other two had run off. She looked around to see what had scared them off and found nothing, not even in the crack in the wall.

* * *

A week had passed since the strange incident with Sharon. The workday had come to an end and Marie was back in her cell, trying to relax and cool off. Though she knew it was a futile effort. Zorua soon emerged from a small hole in the wall. Marie knew that Zorua could get little exercise in the cell, so she sometimes let the little fox run around through the prison through the various holes and cracks in the walls.

"You're finally back, I was really starting to get worried." Marie said to Zoura. She suddenly noticed that Zorua had something in its mouth. "What do you have there little guy?"

Zorua dropped the item in front of Marie. Marie picked it up to take a closer look. The item in question was a Pokeball, but it was a Pokeball that Marie had only ever seen pictures off. The top half of the ball was purple and had two pink circles on top. Above the button of the ball was a letter M.

"This, this is a Master Ball!" Marie exclaimed. "I've read that this kind of Pokeball can capture any Pokemon a hundred percent of the time. Where on earth did you get it?"

Before Zorua could respond in any way, the ground suddenly shook. The floor beneath Marie and Zorua collapsed. The two fell only a few feet, finding themselves in a dark cave with only the light from the hole above shining through. After checking to see if Zorua was okay, Marie suddenly noticed a glowing light-blue eye staring at her.

"S-stay back!" Marie warned. Zorua got in front of Marie and growled at the eye. Suddenly the eye began to approach. "Don't come any closer!"

The unknown owner of the eye continued to advance. Marie panicked and threw the Master Ball at the eye, thinking it was a rock. The ball hit and sucked in the unknown creature. It jiggled on the ground two or three times before making the noise that signaled that the capture was complete.

"So… it was a Pokemon?" Marie realized. "Well, I might as well see what I caught."

With that, Marie picked up the ball and threw it into the light. Emerging from the ball was a shadowy black creature that hovered a few feet in the air. On its head it had hair that looked like a billowing white flame, which covered one of its light-blue eyes. Around its neck was a red growth that resembled a necklace of large beads. Its body had an hourglass shape and looked as it was made of tattered black rags.

"You're a Darkrai!" Marie realized. "I read about you in book on Legendary Pokemon in my father's study. You're said to be a Pokemon that causes nightmares. Which means… you're the reason why I've been having nightmares since I came here! So you're going to torment me for something I didn't do too, are you?"

Suddenly Zorua rubbed up against Marie's leg. Marie looked down and saw that Zorua had a flower in its mouth, one of the strange blue flowers she had been getting with the cups of water. She looked around the floor of the cave and saw that those flowers were growing all around. It suddenly dawned on Marie just where the water and flowers had been coming from.

"Are, are you the one who's been leaving the water and flowers every afternoon?" Marie asked Darkrai. Darkrai responded by nodding. "Well thank you, but I don't understand why. Is it to make up for the nightmares?"

Again Darkrai nodded silently. Suddenly something else occurred to Marie. She recalled that the other inmates and even the guards did not like they had had a goodnight's sleep.

"You don't mean to cause these nightmares, do you?" Marie realized. Once again, Darkrai nodded. "Well, whatever reasons you have for helping for me, thank you. I'm sorry for yelling at you before. Anyway, I guess you're my Pokemon now. Now I have to figure out how to get out of this hole."

Suddenly Marie heard a lapping noise. She looked down and saw Zorua lapping up water from a small stream of water that was running through the cave. It didn't take much for Marie to figure out that the stream was where Darkrai had been getting the water. Right away, Marie went over to the small stream and cupped her hands to drink some of the water from it. She drank up as much as she could.

"I haven't had this much water in a long time!" Marie exclaimed happily. "You know this cave actually isn't that bad. It's nice and cool, and out of that hot sun…. But I guess I have to go back to the cell. I'm still not sure how though."

As if on cue, Darkrai wrapped its arms around Marie's midsection. Zorua seemed to catch onto what Darkrai was doing and jumped into Marie's arms. Darkrai then lifted the both of them out of the hole and back into the crumbled cell.

"Wow, you're pretty strong." Marie said to Darkrai after it had set her on the floor. "Thanks for the help. I think you should go back into your ball now though. I don't want the guards to find you."

With that, Marie called Darkrai into the Master Ball. Just as she was about to call Zorua back to its own Pokeball, the door to the cell opened. In walked two female guards, followed by a short fat man with a baldhead wearing a grey suit and glasses. Marie knew this man to be the warden.

"So, I come in here checking to see what the damage was from that little tremor and I find that this is where that Zorua that I picked up a couple years has been hiding." The warden said as he looked at Marie. "Shame on you for harboring a Pokemon! For that you will have to be punished. As for your little friend it will be confiscated."

"No, you can't take Zoura!" Marie cried as tears came to her face. "He's all I have!"

The guards responded by activating the collar around Marie's neck. The electric shock was so great that she fell to her knees. Suddenly Zoura leapt up and bit down on the collar with all its strength. Though the little fox was being shocked it would not let go and kept biting down. At last, the collar broke and snapped off Marie's neck.

"Troublesome little fox!" the warden snapped. "I guess we'll have to teach you both a lesson."

The two guards then began to advance on Marie and Zorua. Marie picked up Zorua to try and shield it from the guards' batons.

"What's going on here?" a voice suddenly asked, causing the guards to stop.

Entering the cell was a man with slicked-back brown hair wearing an orange suit with a green vest, yellow shirt, and red tie. Walking at his side was a large cream-colored cat with black ears and a small red gem in its forehead. Marie recognized the Pokemon as a Persian.

"Oh, Giovanni." The warden said to the stranger. "We're just dealing with an inmate who's harboring this one Pokemon that escaped from its cage awhile ago."

"I see." Giovanni said as he looked at Marie and Zorua with interest. "Isn't this the Pokemon that you mentioned escaped two years ago?"

"Well yes, but I don't see…" the warden began to say.

"Quite resourceful for such a child." Giovanni cut in. "I must say that you have me intrigued young lady."

"Who are you?" Marie asked.

"I am Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket." Giovanni answered. "And I feel I owe you an apology. My men caused the tremor that more or less destroyed your cell. We were detonating explosives trying to find a certain Pokemon underground. Perhaps you've heard of it. It's called a Darkrai, and there's a story that says it came to this island so that only the inmates of this prison would be affected by its power to inflict nightmares. So tell me young lady, have you heard of this Pokemon before?"

"No… no I haven't." Marie lied.

"Oh well, I knew it would be a long shot, but I thought I'd ask anyway." Giovanni responded. "But this trip isn't a total lose. In addition to acquiring some rare Pokemon from my old associate the warden, I think I've found something that would make a fine addition to my organization. Let me make you an offer young lady, join Team Rocket and I'll take you out of this prison. What do you say?"

One of the common aspects of hell is that one will do absolutely anything to escape it. They will commit any deed or step over any person if it means a chance of release. Marie had heard of Team Rocket as a gang of thieves that stole and abused Pokemon for money and power. Yet it seemed that joining them was their only chance of getting out of the living hell that was Scorch Gate. Plus Marie knew she couldn't stay any longer since the warden had discovered Zorua.

"I'll join, only if I can keep Zorua." Marie finally answered.

"Of course my dear." Giovanni agreed. "I wouldn't dream of splitting you two up. After all, the two of you seem to make quite the team."

"Alright then." Marie agreed.

"I'll be taking this girl and her little friend off your hands." Giovanni told the warden.

"But Giovanni, I couldn't possibly let you take one of the inmates." The warden responded. "There will be questions I couldn't answer."

"I'll double what I agreed to pay for the Dratini you showed me." Giovanni offered.

"Well when you put it that way, she's all yours." The warden said, changing his tune in an instant. "If anyone asks, I'll just say the girl died in an accident."

"Then it's settled." Giovanni replied. "Come young lady. My chopper awaits."

With that, Marie followed Giovanni out as she carried Zorua. Within a few minutes they were on the roof of the prison where the chopper was waiting. After they boarded, the chopper took off, taking Marie far away from Scorch Gate.

* * *

**Author's Note:** The idea for Scorch Gate came to me a couple months ago when I was working outside in weather that was about 100 degrees. The heat got me thinking about movies like _Cool Hand Luke_ and _Holes_, and I thought to myself that kind of setting would be good for a story. I was still piecing together Fire for Ice at that time, so I was thinking I'd use that desert prison setting for a Pokemon story. The only problem was that I didn't know just what Legendary Pokemon would fit for such a story. Then I got the idea to use Darkrai as a Pokemon that lived under the prison itself and give the inmates nightmares. That's when Marie's backstory started to fall into place.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	3. A Night Out In Celadon

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 3: A Night Out In Celadon

After a few hours of flying, Giovanni's helicopter arrived over Celadon City in the Kanto Region. The sun had begun to set over the tall buildings that littered the skyline. The helicopter landed on the roof of one of those tall buildings, and Giovanni led Marie and Zorua inside. They went down four floors of the building through hallways filled with doors on both sides, until at last coming to a door at the end of a hall. Giovanni opened the door and Marie saw that the room some sort of apartment.

It was a very large and well-furnished apartment. In the center of the room had a purple couch, a glass coffee table, and two purple chairs. On the wall facing the couch was a flat screen T.V. In the left corner of the room near the door was a fairly small kitchen that looked to be well stocked; while in the far right corner of the room was a large wooden desk. There was a door on the far side of the apartment that seemed to lead to another room.

"Not the most extravagant accommodations I'll admit, but I'm sure it's a hundred times better than that crumbling cell you had." Giovanni said to Marie. "Your training as a member of Team Rocket begins tomorrow. Until then, make yourself at home. I'm sure you'll want to clean up and rest after your time at Scorch Gate."

With that, Giovanni left, closing the door behind him. As soon as Giovanni had left, Marie carried Zorua over to the other side of the apartment and opened the door. On the other side was a large bedroom with a queen-sized bed made with clean white sheets and a green blanket. On the far wall was a large window that overlooked the city. Night was falling and Marie could see that the neon lights of Celadon were already beginning to come on. Next to the bed on the left side was a single nightstand with a lamp and a digital clock.

To Marie's right was what appeared to be a large closet. She put Zorua down on the bed and went over to it. The closet contained many cloths; among them was a blue jumpsuit with a large red letter R on the chest. Marie assumed that the jumpsuit was her Team Rocket uniform. After seeing that the closet was fully stocked, Marie turned to the other side of the room and went to another door that led to an adjacent bathroom.

Marie drew a cold bath and threw the tattered rags that made up her prison uniform in the trash. Once in the tub, Marie began washing away what felt like two years of sweat and grim. Zorua wound up joining Marie on the far side of the tub. The little grey fox seemed to greatly enjoy the bath, as it began to make noises that could be described as singing. Later, after Marie had changed into some comfortable cloths, she and Zorua had a large from the food in the kitchen. It was the first decent meal the two of them had eaten in a long time.

A couple hours later, Marie had gone to bed. But after going to sleep, Marie had a troubling dream that woke her up. It wasn't as bad as the nightmares she had at Scorch Gate, which told her that Darkrai wasn't responsible. But she found that she was unable to get back to sleep afterward.

"Hey Zorua?" Marie called to the little fox Pokemon that was sleeping on the foot of the bed, waking it from its slumber. "I can't sleep. Why don't we go out for a walk?"

With that, Marie changed out of the pink pajamas that she found in the closet and into a back t-shirt and jeans. Marie wondered just who had picked out the cloths that were prepared for her, but did not dwell on the question long. Just as Marie and Zorua were heading out, Marie noticed a pair of Pokeballs on the wooden desk. Since she had technically become a Pokemon trainer, Marie decided to take the items with in case she found some wild Pokemon that might be living in the city. Soon after, Marie and Zorua took the elevator down to the ground floor, and within minutes the two were outside.

The building Marie's apartment was in turned out to be across the street from a park, so Marie decided that would be where she and Zorua would have their little stroll. It was a good-sized park with an ornate fountain in the center and white flowered bushed in various spots. The moon above was half full, and the stars could not be seen because of the bright lights of the city.

"It's a cool night out, isn't it?" Marie commented to Zoura. "You know I never thought I'd be able to walk around like this outside again."

Suddenly something flew down and attacked Zorua with wings that glowed with a white light. Zoura quickly recovered from the surprise attack. Meanwhile, the creature that had attacked landed on the ground a few feet away from where Marie and Zorua were standing. The creature was a small black bird with red eyes and a large yellow beak. The feathers on top of its head took the shape of a hat, and its tail resembled a feather duster.

"That's a Murkrow!" Marie observed. "And it looks like it wants to fight."

Murkrow flew at Zoura again, and as it did its wings began glowing with a white light again. Zoura fought back by firing several rings of black energy from its mouth. The rings hit Murkrow's right wing, causing it to fall to the ground.

"That was Dark Pulse, wasn't it?" Marie realized. "I guess I never got the chance to find out what your attacks were in the prison. Um, let's see. Use Fury Swipes!"

Zorua charged at Murkrow and began scratching the black bird repeatedly with its front paws. After being hit about five times, it looked as if Murkrow was beginning to wear down. Marie took the opportunity and threw one of the Pokeballs she had brought with. Murkrow was sucked in. The ball jiggled a few times before making the sound that indicated the capture was complete.

"My first capture." Marie said as she picked up the Pokeball. Zorua tilted its head and quirked its brow in response to what Marie just said. "Well technically I caught you and Darkrai by accident."

Suddenly both Zorua and Marie heard a growling noise from nearby. They turned in the direction of the noise, and from behind a nearby bush came a black dog with a red snout and underside. On its back were with bands that looked like ribs, and on its forehead was a white marking that resembled a skull.

"A Houndour." Marie observed.

The Houndour fired a barrage of fiery sparks from its mouth at Zorua. Zorua managed to jump out of the way seconds before they hit.

"Try Fury Swipes!" Marie commanded.

Zoura charged at Houndour to attempt to scratch it. But the black dog breathed out a cloud of thick purple smog from its mouth. Zorua coughed on the smoke. Houndour then fired another barrage of sparks that hit Zorua in the face. Zorua then began to cry, causing Marie to become very worried. Houndour suddenly became less aggressive and walked up to Zorua to see if it was okay. Suddenly Zorua surprised Houndour by firing more black rings from its mouth, which hit Houndour right in the face. Zorua snickered after using the attack.

"Oh, you were using Fake Tears." Marie realized with a sigh of relief. "You shouldn't scare me like that little guy. Okay, let's try Fury Swipes again!"

Zorua nodded and rapidly scratched Houndour in the face four or five times. Marie decided to take the chance and use her remaining Pokeball. The ball hit and sucked Houndour in. Both Marie and Zorua waited to see if Houndour would break out. But after jiggling a few times, the ball made the sound that signaled that the capture was complete.

"I think that's enough excitement for one night." Marie said as she picked up Houndour's Pokeball. "Let's go back to the apartment."

A few minutes later, Marie and Zorua were back in what was fast becoming their new home. Once inside Marie decided to let out Murkrow and Houndour. Both Pokemon breathed in exhaustion upon coming out.

"Sorry for being so rough with you back there." Marie said to them. "Keep in mind though, you did start those fights. Let's be friends now, okay?"

Murkrow responded by flying up and perching itself on Marie's right shoulder. Marie then bent down and held out her right hand to Houndour, allowing the black dog to come up and sniff it. After Houndour sniffed Marie's hand a few times it began licking it. Suddenly the door to the apartment opened. Marie and her Pokemon turned to see Giovanni and Persian standing in the doorway.

"You continue to impress me my dear." Giovanni said to Marie. "You've passed your first test with flying colors. I had one of my men waiting at the ground floor of this building to follow you in case you left the building and see what you did. Not only did you return to the apartment, but you also managed to capture two new Pokemon. Well done."

"So you're spying on me?" Marie asked.

"Not at all." Giovanni chuckled. "You're no longer a prisoner, but the thought did occur to me that you might just take this opportunity to just run off and never return, but you didn't."

"Where would I go?" Marie coldly pointed out. "I have nowhere else to turn. I was a criminal, and now as far as the rest of the world is concerned, I'm dead. This is the only place left for me."

"Smart girl." Giovanni told her. "I remind you that your training begins tomorrow. So you might want to try and get some sleep."

With that, Giovanni and Persian left, shutting the door behind them. Marie sighed with relief as soon as they were gone.

"Sorry about him." Marie said to Murkrow and Houndour. "I really don't like that guy, but he was the only way for me and Zorua to escape the life we had before. Oh that reminds me, there's one other friend I'd like you two to meet."

Marie then sent out Darkrai. Both Murkrow and Houndour were a bit frightened by Darkrai's appearance. Houdour even growled at the Legendary Pokemon.

"Don't worry, Darkrai won't hurt you." Marie assured her two new Pokemon. "He actually helped me and Zorua survive in… that hell."

Zorua talked to Murkrow and Houndour in its own language, seeming to reassure the two of what Marie told them. Both Murkrow and Houndour relaxed after a moment.

"Now listen Darkrai." Marie said to the Legendary Pokemon. "I'm going to have to keep you a secret from Team Rocket. If they knew I had you, they'd take you from me and do who knows what to you. So I'll only be able to send you out when we're alone, understand?"

Darkrai gave a silent nod. Marie then got up and sat in a nearby chair and sighed.

"I hate this." Marie said to her four Pokemon. "I hate the idea of working for Team Rocket. I've heard about some of the awful things they do to Pokemon. But like it or not this is what I have to do. Agreeing to join them was the only way out for me, so I guess for now we'll all just have to suck it up and do the best job we can to work for them…. It's all I can do for now until I can get back at Lisa and Andre for what they did. And I will get back at them one day… I swear it."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Early on I decided that all of Marie/Noir Mask's Pokemon would be of the Dark type. I used some of my favorites for most of her team.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Noir Mask Begins

**Author's Note:** The title is obviously a reference to Batman Begins. It's so obvious that I don't think I even needed to mention it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 4: Noir Mask Begins

Giovanni's men, a pair of gentlemen in black suits, came for Marie at 5:30 AM. They did not wake Marie however, as she had been unable to get any sleep even after returning from her little outing from the night before. She did nap for a few hours, but it was not a deep sleep. The two men who came for Marie instructed her to change into her trainee uniform. Marie put on the blue jumpsuit and the black boots and gloves that came with it.

After Marie had changed, the two men escorted to the elevator. Once inside, one of the men opened a secret panel beneath the elevator buttons and pressed the red button inside. The elevator began to descend, and after a few minutes the elevator stopped and opened up a large dimly lit rooms with grey walls that had red benches along them. Directly across from the elevator was a long dark hallway.

"Welcome to the Team Rocket training facility." One of the two men said coldly to Marie. "Go down that hallway. The other recruits are waiting."

After a split second of hesitation, Marie exited the elevator. The door closed as soon as she stepped out. She went down the long hallway until she reached what looked like a large stadium. There were already several young men and women gathered in the stadium, all wearing uniforms similar to Marie's. Though some of the uniforms were red instead of blue. One thing that was clear to Marie though was that all of the other recruits there were a few years older than she was.

"Alright, fall in you worms!" a deep voice suddenly bellowed.

On cue, Marie and the other recruits lined up in a military formation. Marie had somehow ended up in the first row. Walking into the room was a very large and muscular black man with a shaved head and a black eye patch over his left eye. His uniform was similar to most Team Rocket agents, except it was grey and included a light-grey vest.

"I am Sergeant Stone." The man announced as he walked in front of the front row of recruits. "You may address me as Sergeant Stone or Sir. Call me anything else and I'll make you wish you were never born. You're all here because you wish to join Team Rocket. Let me tell you right now that becoming a member of Team Rocket is no cakewalk. For the next six months you're all mine, and before that time is over I guarantee that more than half of you will wash out."

Stone at last came to the end of the row where Marie was standing. He looked down and stared at her with his one eye, causing Marie to tremble a bit.

"Well, you must that pipsqueak that the boss has taken interest in." Stone said to Marie. "I don't see what's so special about you myself, but don't expect any special treatment from me." With that, Stone walked to the center of the stadium. "Now then, today we'll start with a few one-one-one Pokemon battles to see how skilled you are with handling Pokemon. I think I'll have our little pipsqueak will be one of the two to go first."

Marie reluctantly stepped forward. She hoped that the battle she was about to have would go as smoothly as the battles to capture Murkrow and Houndour.

"Alright, which one of you worms is going to volunteer to face this runt?" Stone asked.

Stepping forward from the front row was a young man who looked to be about sixteen with short brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Let's have your name recruit." Stone ordered.

"Mike Evans, sir!" the young man answered.

"Okay Evans, you and the pipsqueak go to the center of the arena." Stone commanded.

Both Marie and Evans walked out to the center of the stadium floor and took their places. Stone took a place off to the side to referee.

"This will be a one-on-one Pokemon battle! No substitutions will be allowed!" Stone announced. "Begin!"

"Go Rattata!" Evans called as he threw out a Pokeball.

Emerging from the thrown ball was a fairly large purple mouse with red eyes and a cream-colored underside. Marie sent out Houndour in response.

"Okay Rattata, let's end this quick!" Evans called. "Use Hyper Fang!"

Rattata's two large buckteeth began to glow with a white light. It charged forward and bit down on Houndour's right front leg. Suddenly Houndour whirled in the air for a moment and changed into Zorua. The little fox began snickering at its little trick.

"Hey, what gives?" Evans complained. "You can't substitute your Pokemon like that!"

"I never said I sent out Houndour in the first place." Marie pointed out as a half smile came to her face.

"Calm down Evans!" Stone cut in. "That Zorua used its Illusion ability to change into another Pokemon. Now quit complaining and take her out!"

"Fine, use Tackle Rattata!" Evans commanded.

"Fake Tears!" Marie commanded as Rattata began its charge.

Zorua suddenly began to cry out and break down in tears. Rattata stopped its charge. It then walked up to Zorua with an expression of concern on its face.

"What's going on now?" Evans complained. "Finish it Rattata!"

"When a Pokemon uses Fake Tears, it causes the opponent to drop its guard." Marie explained. "The opponent's Special Defense decreases, making them more vulnerable to an attack like this. Dark Pulse Zorua!"

Immediately Zorua stopped crying and fired off a barrage of black energy rings at Rattata. The little rodent Pokemon was knocked out cold.

"Okay, that's enough. The victory goes to the pipsqueak!" Stone declared. "You're going to have to do a whole lot better than that Evans. Alright, let's have two more volunteers!"

With that, Marie and Evans called back Zorua and Rattata and walked off the battlefield as two more recruits took their place.

"Don't get cocky pipsqueak!" Stone called to Marie. "You may have won one battle today, but there's more to being a member of Team Rocket than just Pokemon battles. It all gets harder from here on out."

* * *

A few hours later, Marie and the other recruits had adjourned to the training facility's cafeteria. It was a fairly large room with tan walls that was a little more brightly lit than the rest of the facility. Most of the tables and chairs had been filled with trainees. Marie however sat at her table alone as she ate.

"Hey, this seat taken?" a voice from behind suddenly asked.

Marie turned her head and saw a girl who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen with long light-green hair and reddish-brown eyes. She wore a blue trainee jumpsuit like Marie's and was holding a try full of food.

"…I guess you can sit here." Marie said coldly. She preferred to eat alone, but after looking around the room it was clear there was nowhere else for the young woman to sit.

"Thanks a lot." The young woman said as she took the chair next to Marie. "This place is totally packed. You did pretty good in that battle earlier."

"Thanks." Marie replied, trying her best to ignore her dining companion.

"So my name's Margo." The young woman told her. "You are?"

"…None of your business." Marie coldly answered.

"Okay…" Margo replied. "Well I'm sure your name isn't 'pipsqueak'. Let's see… if you're aren't willing to give me your name, maybe I should just come up with another one for you. I know! I'll call you Jane."

"What, like Jane Doe?" Marie asked.

"Sort of." Margo answered. "I was actually thinking of this girl I knew in the orphanage I was in before coming here. She was this mousy little thing with a bad attitude, sorta like you are. So what do you think?"

"You can call me whatever you want." Marie replied flatly.

"Jane it is then." Margo chuckled. "So if you don't mind me asking, how'd a little kid like you end up here?"

"I couldn't survive in the place I was before." Marie answered. "This was the only place for me to go."

"I hear that." Margo chuckled. "I grew up in this dirt poor, overcrowded orphanage. Ran away when I was fifteen. I lived on the streets until I came here."

"So you don't mind stealing other people's Pokemon then?" Marie asked.

"Hey, the way I see it we're doing a lot of those Pokemon a favor." Margo told her. "When I lived on the streets I saw a lot of trainers who abused their Pokemon. So they're probably better of being stolen. And like you said, we don't have any other place to go."

"If you'll excuse me." Marie said in a tone of disgust as she suddenly got up with her tray only half finished.

"Okay, catch ya later I guess Jane." Margo called as Marie walked off.

* * *

Three months had passed since Marie had begun her training as a member of Team Rocket. One afternoon, Marie limped into her apartment as she leaned against Margo for support. Margo helped Marie over to her couch before heading out to the kitchen.

"That was a pretty rough session of hand-to-hand combat training you had." Margo commented as she opened the freezer for some ice. "I can't believe that guy knocked you down with that low kick and then stepped on your knee like that."

"Stone seems to prefer that we fight dirty." Marie said darkly.

"Well, you sure got that guy back though." Margo said as she filled a bag with some ice. "That one kick you gave him after he stepped on you probably made sure he can never have children. Plus you broke his thumb. You fight pretty well when you're angry."

"I've never done anything like that before." Marie told her. "It wasn't something I enjoyed doing."

"Hey, you did what you had to Jane." Margo said as she handed Marie the bag of ice. "And the good news is that you didn't break that knee of yours. The doc said you should stay off it for a few days though. It's a good thing we get the weekend off."

"There is that at least." Marie agreed as she put the bag of ice on her right knee.

"You should take this time to get some sleep." Margo suggested. "I mean you look worn out."

"I don't really sleep anymore." Marie told her.

"I can understand that." Margo replied. "For three months we get up at 5:30 in the morning for a whole day of Pokemon battles, training to break into secure buildings. Then there was that day when that hard-ass Stone made us take that long jog from here to Saffron City and back. My legs were sore for a week after that."

"It certainly wasn't fun for me." Marie agreed. "And it was so hot that day…. I hate the heat."

"Yeah, well my point is that you shouldn't push yourself too hard kid." Margo told her. "I mean you terrible. You're getting so pale that you're starting to look like a vampire. And it doesn't help that you keep this place so dark twenty-four seven. Anyway, you should take it easy."

"I can't afford to take it easy." Marie declared. "Team Rocket is the only place left for me, so I have to push myself as hard as I can to make sure I become a member."

"Well okay, but just be careful." Margo sighed. "I kinda like you Jane, you and I are kind of alike. I just don't want to see you kill yourself."

"…Thank you for your concern." Marie said after a moment. "But I'll be fine."

"Just take it easy during the weekend." Margo told her. "I'll see you later."

With that, Margo left the apartment. Marie slumped back on the couch and sighed. Marie had to admit that Margo was right about one thing; she was tired. So Marie decided that she should try taking a nap.

* * *

Three more moths had passed, and Marie's training as an agent of Team Rocket was nearing its completion. On the night before the final day of her training Marie was up late in her apartment working on something at her deck. All of her Pokemon were out, including Darkrai. Houndour, who had evolved into a Houndoom during a training battle, was by the door chewing on an old bone. The black dog had grown larger due to its evolution, and had gained a pointed tail similar to that of a demon's. The skull marking on its forehead had vanished, and its ears looked as if they were replaced by white horns that curved back. It had also gained a white band around its neck with what looked like a small skull on the front of it.

Darkrai was on the couch, while Zorua was curled up on the corner of the desk watching Marie. Murkrow had perched itself on Marie's shoulder to watch as Marie crafted a black half mask with light-blue lenses.

"There, finished." Marie said after gluing the second lens into place. Zorua then gave Marie a curious look. "Can't figure out why I made this mask little guy? It's simple really, I don't want people to see my face and know me as someone who works for Team Rocket. Plus most of the world probably thinks I'm dead anyway, so I might as well take on a new identity…. Well, it's going to be a long day tomorrow, so I should try and get some sleep."

* * *

The next day Marie and the other recruits had gathered in the arena for their final day of training. Several of the trainees had been eliminated, leaving only ten.

"Alright you worms, this is the last day of your training." Stone said as he began to address the troops. "I have to say, I'm surprised that some of you made it this far. But today's the day we weed out the strong from the weak. Only half of you will be accepted into Team Rocket, and to decide that you will each fight in a one-on-one Pokemon battle. The winners will be the ones who make the cut. So let's get started! First up is Evans against our resident pipsqueak."

Marie and Evans took their places on the battlefield. Their training had begun with the two of them battling, and it seemed that it would end the same way.

"Don't think this will end the same way as our first battle." Evans said confidently.

"Let the battle begin!" Stone declared.

"Go Raticate!" Evans called as he threw out his Pokeball.

Emerging from the thrown ball was a large light-brown rat with huge fangs and a pink cord-like tail. Marie sent out Houndoom in response.

"Don't think I'll fall for the same trick twice." Evans said smugly. "Use Quick Attack!"

In an instant Raticate seemed to vanish, but a split second later in tackled into Houndoom. As soon as Houndoom was hit it suddenly changed into Zorua.

"Hah, I knew it!" Evans exclaimed. "Now use Super Fang!"

Raticate's large fangs began to glow with a gold light. With incredible speed it got behind Zorua and bit down on its tail. The little fox cried out in pain.

"No, Zorua!" Maire called out with a worried expression.

"It's all over now." Evans said with an arrogant smirk.

Suddenly Zorua cried out and its body began to glow with a white light. The little fox then began to change and grow in size. Once the light had cleared, Zorua had changed into a bipedal fox-like creature that stood at about five feet. Its ears and snout had become pointed. On the top of its head it had gained a large mass of mostly red fur that was tied back in a ponytail by a large teal orb. The thick black fur that was once around its neck had moved to cover its upper torso.

"No way, it evolved into Zoroark?" Evans said with a shocked expression.

"Night Slash." Marie commanded coldly.

The red claws on Zoroark's right hand began to glow with a red light. The monster fox then charged forward and roared as it lunged and slashed Raticate across the chest.

"Night Slash again!" Marie commanded. Once again Zoroark slashed at Raticate with its claws, throwing the rodent into the air. "Now finish with Dark Pulse!"

Before Raticate hit the ground, Zoroark fired a barrage of black energy rings at the rodent. Raticate hit the ground with a thud and did not try to get up. Zoroark roared with its victory.

"Well, I guess the boss was onto something when he recruited you pipsqueak." Stone said to Marie. "You're out Evans."

With that, Zoroark trotted back up to Marie and licked her on the face, causing her to laugh a little.

"Thank you my friend." Marie said quietly to Zoroark as she patted it on the head.

* * *

About half an hour later, Marie was standing on the stadium floor wearing a new uniform that signified she was a full-fledged member of Team Rocket. The new uniform consisted of a black shirt with a red R on front, a short black skirt, black boots and gloves, and a black cap. Marie was standing with Margo and the three other recruits who had made it through training. As soon as they had lined up, Stone reentered the room with Giovanni and his Persian following close behind.

"Okay you worms, Looks like you've made the cut." Stone said as he addressed the five. "Now it's time for you to meet the man we all work for. Presenting now the absolute leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni."

"I congratulate you all for passing you training. Welcome to Team Rocket." Giovanni said to the recruits. He suddenly noticed Marie and walked up to her. "Well young lady, I'm not at all surprised to see you here. You have lived up to my expectations."

"Thank you sir." Marie responded.

"Now then, it occurs to me that I never bothered to learn your name." Giovanni realized. "Perhaps you could tell me now."

"…My name?" Marie said as a smile came to her face. She then pulled out the black mask she had been working on the night before and put it on. "The girl I was when you found me is dead, so it's only right that I take on a new name. From now on you can call me Noir Mask."

Three of the newly minted Team Rocket members gasped at Marie in surprise. Margo meanwhile gave Marie a worried expression.

"Now see here you little…!" Stone began to shout, but Giovanni raised his hand, causing Stone to fall silent.

"I like your sense of style." Giovanni said with an amused expression. "And you might as well have a new name to go with your new life. Very well, from this point on you shall be known as Noir Mask."

"Thank you sir." Marie replied.

"Now then, you five have earned a week off." Giovanni continued. "I suggest you all use this time to rest, for next week you will be assigned your first mission. That is all."

Marie and the four saluted Giovanni before turning to exit the stadium. As she walked down the hall, Marie continued to smile, but on the inside she felt miserable. Her training had finally come to an end, but somehow Marie knew thing were only going to get harder for her.

* * *

**Author's Note:** This chapter was a little hard to write. I think it's mostly because of all the time skips. Margo was a character I kind of pulled out of the air to give Marie someone other than her Pokemon to interact with. That was kind of a problem I had in my first Pokemon story.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	5. The First Mission

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 5: The First Mission

A week had passed, and Marie had been assigned her first mission as a member of Team Rocket. She and Margo were being sent to the Unova Region with several other agents to help establish a new Team Rocket base. The carrier plane that was taking Marie and the other to Unova had been flying for over six hours. During the whole trip many of the other Team Rocket members aboard were talking amongst themselves about Marie, mainly about her young age and the oddness of her mask. Marie cared very little about what they thought though. She didn't join Team Rocket to make friends, even though she had found something of a friend in Margo.

"So… I guess I should call you Noir now?" Margo asked Marie.

"If you like." Marie replied simply.

"Well, it is a little more interesting than Jane Doe." Margo admitted.

At this point a man wearing a Team Rocket uniform similar to Stone's entered from the cockpit. He was a slender man with short red hair and green eyes. Marie and Margo knew this man as the commander of the mission.

"Okay you grunts, listen up!" the commander called. "In five minutes we will be setting down in Unova near the location of the new base. In case some of you were asleep during the briefing, the location we'll be using is an old abandoned mining town at the foot of a mountain. So they'll already be structures that can be easily converted to a base. Once we land, half of you will patrol the area while the rest of you will help set up the equipment. You'll be assigned your team when you get off the plane. That is all."

A few minutes later the plane landed and the agents had all disembarked. Marie and Margo had been assigned to one of the teams that were to patrol the surrounding area. The team that the girls had decided to split up, and as Marie and Margo headed to the foot of the mountain a creature jumped out at them from behind a bush. It was a short somewhat humanoid creature that looked like it was wearing a black helmet that was red on top and had a curved blade sticking out on the forehead. Its torso was dark-grey, and had two bladed discs sticking out the front that gave the impression of ribs. Its arms and legs looked as if they were covered in red armor, and silver blades instead of hands.

"That's a Pawniard, isn't it?" Margo asked. Marie responded merely by sending out Houndoom to face the creature.

"Ember attack!" Marie commanded as Pawniard lunged at Houndoom.

Houndoom fired off a barrage of fiery sparks from its mouth, which hit Pawniard in the right leg and knocked it out of the air. Marie took the opportunity and threw out a Pokeball. Pawniard was sucked in, and the ball only jiggled a few times before making the noise that signaled that the capture was complete.

"Pretty slick Jane, I mean Noir." Margo commented. "That's what, four Pokemon you have now?"

"…Yes… four." Marie lied, as Margo did not know about Darkrai.

"Hey, why don't we split up?" Margo suggested. "We can get done with the search a lot faster that way."

"I don't know, our team has spread out so much already." Marie pointed out. "We should stick together in case we run into trouble."

"What, from more Pawniard?" Margo laughed. "You should relax Noir, this mission is a piece of cake. Look, we'll meet in front of that cave up ahead in about an hour, okay?"

"…Fine." Marie reluctantly agreed.

"Great! See you in an hour then." Margo said before quickly walking off.

* * *

Half an hour had passed since Marie and Margo had split up. Marie had since completed her part of the search and decided to relax inside the cave where she had agreed to meet back up with Margo. The cave was an old mining shaft that had been unused for years, and it reminded Marie of the cave under her cell at Scorch Gate where she met Darkrai.

"This seems like as good a place as any to rest." Marie said to herself. "And while I'm at it I should get to know my new friend."

With that, Marie sent out Pawniard. The little armored Pokemon looked at Marie somewhat warily.

"It's okay little guy, I won't hurt you." Marie said with a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry I was so rough with you before. Why don't we start over, okay?"

After a moment of hesitation, Pawniard approached Marie. Suddenly the two of them heard a growling noise down the tunnel. Marie and Pawniard tensed up, readying themselves for what was coming. What finally emerged from the darkness was a blue lizard-like creature that was about the size of a dog. It had black fur covering its neck and most of its head, leaving only its snout exposed.

"A Deino!" Marie observed. "Get ready Pawniard, I think it wants to fight."

Pawniard extended the blades on the ends of its arms and took a fighting stance. Suddenly Deino's body began to glow with a blue light, and suddenly it took off like a rocket at Pawniard. The little dragon missed Pawniard entirely though and collided into the tunnel wall behind Marie. Both Marie and Pawniard turned around to see that Deino had gotten its head stuck in the wall. Pawniard sweat dropped at the sight.

"Oh, the poor thing." Marie said in a worried tone. "Maybe this will help though."

Marie threw out a Pokeball, which hit Deino and sucked it in and at the same time got it unstuck from the wall. The ball jiggled only three times before making the sound that signaled a completed capture. Marie then walked over, picked up the ball, and sent Deino out.

"You okay?" Marie asked the little dragon. Deino shook its head a few times before turning towards Marie. "You should be more careful. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get you out of that wall."

Deino responded with a sort of happy sounding barking noise. Suddenly Marie heard what sounded like Margo's voice down one of the tunnels. She called back Deino and Pawniard and headed towards the sound. Within moments she could hear what Margo was saying, and could also hear a male voice that seemed to be talking to Margo. A dim light was flickering down the tunnel, and soon Marie had reached the end and could see what was going on.

Margo seemed to be talking to a man with brown hair and blue eye, wearing what looked to be grey armor with a white tunic. On the front of the tunic was a shield-like symbol that was black one side, white on the other, and had a blue letter P.

"So you're certain they don't suspect a thing?" the armored man asked.

"Trust me Archer, as far as they're concerned I'm just a rookie grunt." Margo assured him. "They have no clue I'm a spy."

"Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised." The armored man known as Archer replied. "It's not like one would expect a band of thieves to do detailed background checks one their recruits. You've done a good job so far. Lord N and Sage Ghetsis will be pleased. Now what can you tell me about their headquarters?"

"What's going on?" Marie interrupted as she stepped out from where she was hiding.

"Oh damn!" Margo exclaimed. "You weren't supposed to find out about this Noir."

"Who is this girl?" Archer demanded.

"She's that kid I told you about." Margo answered.

"Margo, who is this person?" Marie asked.

"Well, I guess the Skitty's out of the bag." Margo sighed. "Look Noir, I wasn't totally honest about my past. Though you've never told me your real name, so I think that makes us even. Anyway, I was telling you the truth when I said I grew up in an orphanage and wound up on the streets. What I didn't tell you was that a few months after I ran away I joined Team Plasma."

"Team Plasma?" Marie repeated.

"In a way we're an organization similar to yours." Archer explained. "But our ideals are far nobler. Unlike Team Rocket, we seek to free Pokemon from the oppression of the human race."

"I did mention to you that I saw a lot of Pokemon who were mistreated by their trainers." Margo continued. "Seeing that made me realize the truth about the relationship between humans and Pokemon. And the truth is that the two can't live together. People will always abuse Pokemon and take advantage of their power. Team Plasma plans to change all that one day by separating them for good!"

"I see…" Marie responded. "But Margo, not all humans abuse their Pokemon. Some humans and Pokemon have formed incredible friendships. I should know because I have such a friendship with my Pokemon."

"Oh that's rich." Margo scoffed. "I've seen the way you pushed your Pokemon during our training as members of Team Rocket. You really expect me to believe they're your good buddies?"

"You're wrong, I've pushed them no harder than I've pushed myself." Marie retorted. "And each one of my Pokemon has been willing to do everything they could to help me, two of them especially. Those two Pokemon were there for me when I was abandoned by my family and a person who I really cared about. They helped me to survive a living hell, and unless you experience that hell you can never understand my bond with them."

"Enough of this!" Archer cut in. "This girl knows too much Margo. We have to dispose of her, or else our whole operation will be compromised."

"I guess you're right." Margo sighed. "Nothing personal Noir, but I can't let Team Rocket find out who I really am. It really was nice knowing you kid."

Before Margo or Archer could make a move, Darkrai suddenly emerged from its Pokeball. The two Team Plasma members were greatly startled by the Legendary Pokemon's appearance.

"What the?" Archer said with a frightened expression. "Why didn't you tell me she had a Darkrai?"

"I-I didn't know." Margo said as the color drained from her face.

Darkrai raised its arms in the air, and between its hands formed a large ball of black energy. Darkrai threw the ball, which suddenly split in two and hit Margo and Archer. Margo and Archer fell to the ground. Marie saw that the two had fallen into a deep sleeps, but their movements seemed to indicate that they were both having a nightmare.

"Hot… so hot!" Margo called out in her sleep. "Wait… I didn't… I didn't do anything…"

Margo then convulsed as if she was being shocked by something. It soon occurred to Marie that Margo's nightmare seemed familiar.

"Is she dreaming about being at Scorch Gate?" Marie asked Darkrai. Darkrai gave Marie a silent nod, and after a moment Marie burst into laughter. "Oh this is great! This is the perfect way for people to see the hell I've gone though…. And it's the perfect way to get back at Lisa and Andre for what they did to me."

* * *

With the exposure of Margo as a spy for Team Plasma, the mission to establish a Team Rocket base in Unova had been put on hold. A few days later Marie was taken back to Team Rocket HQ in Celedon and was asked to appear before Giovanni. Marie was a bit apprehensive as she walked into Giovanni's office that day, as she did not know why Giovanni wanted to see her.

"Ah, right on time Noir Mask." Giovanni said to Marie as she entered. "Please have a seat."

"Thank you sir." Marie said somewhat nervously as she sat down in the chair that was before Giovanni's desk.

"It seems I've underestimated your talents." Giovanni began. "Not only did you find and capture a spy, but you've also given us an insight into Team Plasma. That was above and beyond the call of duty."

"Thank you very much sir." Marie said modestly.

"Which is why I've decided to promote you to a special position." Giovanni continued. "Starting now you are an elite agent of Team Rocket who answers directly to me. And one of your chief duties will be to investigate any members of the organization whose activities are out of the ordinary."

"Does that mean I'll be working alone sir?" Marie asked.

"I assume that won't be a problem for you." Giovanni answered.

"Not at all sir." Marie said as a genuine smile came to her face.

"Excellent." Giovanni said as he pushed a file folder over to Marie. "Here is your first assignment. You may deal with it in whatever way you see fit. Contact me when you're done."

Marie opened the file folder and looked at the contents. Her eyes widened in surprise beneath her mask when she saw the name of the person she was to investigate.

"You don't have a problem investigating this person, do you?" Giovanni asked.

"Not at all sir." Marie replied with a grin. "In fact this will be a real pleasure."

* * *

Later that night, Stone waited in an alley out behind the Celadon City Game Corner holding a large black briefcase in his right hand. Stone looked nervously at his watch, the person he was supposed to meet was running late. At last a man with short black hair and a mustache wearing a grey suit and red tie stepped out of the shadows. In his hand the man carried a black briefcase identical to Stone's.

"You're late." Stone said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Sorry, got held up at the slots." The suited man told him. "Do you have the stuff?"

"You have my money?" Stone asked. The suited man held out the briefcase and opened it, revealing that it contained several stacks of cash.

"I've shown you mine, now you show me yours." The suited man requested with a smirk.

"Twenty rare Pokemon, poached by Team Rocket." Stone said as he held out the case and opened it up to show that it was filled with Pokeballs.

"These will sell real well." The suited man said as he and Stone exchanged cases. "Say, mind if I ask you why you're doing this? You know, stealing rare Pokemon out from under Team Rocket's nose and selling them to the highest bidder."

"I've worked my ass off for Team Rocket for fifteen years hoping for the sweet life." Stone admitted. "Instead they have me babysitting a bunch of brats day in and day out. And the pay I get for that job is a joke! The way I see it, this is the only way for me to make it big."

"How interesting." The suited man remarked. "I'm sure Giovanni will be very interested to hear about this."

Before Stone could react there was a flash of purple light, and standing in front of him in the suited man's place was Marie. Her uniform was different from before. In addition to her black Team Rocket shirt she had on a short white skirt with a red stripe near the bottom. She also wore knee-high white boots, each with a red stripe near the top, and white gloves that each had a red stripe near the end. Marie also had on a white cape that covered her left arm and went down as far as her skirt. A red feather was also sticking out the right side of Marie's cap.

"What the… pipsqueak?" a shocked Stone exclaimed.

"Ah, ah, it's Noir Mask, remember?" Marie said as she waved a finger in the air.

"How did you do all that?" Stone demanded. In answer to his question, Zoroark stepped out from the shadows with a grin on its face. "Oh I get it now, you were using Zoroark's Illusion ability."

"Right you are." Marie confirmed. "Oh by the way, that money you took was also an illusion."

Stone looked at the briefcase that the disguised Marie had handed to him. Instead of black, the case was brown and worn out. Stone opened it up and saw that the case was filled with dead leaves.

"What the hell you trying to pull?" Stone angrily demanded as he threw the case at Marie. Zoroark jumped in front of Marie and slashed the case apart with its claws.

"I'd be careful if I were you." Marie warned. "My darling Zoroark is very protective of me. He was very rough with that man you were going to sell those Pokemon to when he threatened me. He's fine though, just knocked out."

"You still haven't answered my question!" Stone shouted.

"Giovanni promoted me." Marie answered bluntly. "My job is now to investigate Team Rocket members who're behaving… inappropriately, let's say."

"So you're investigating me." Stone realized.

"You didn't really think you could sneak those rare Pokemon out from under the organization, did you?" Marie replied.

"And I thought I was being careful." Stone chuckled darkly. "You must be getting a real kick out of this after the hell I put you through."

"Oh that wasn't hell." Marie said with a sinister grin. "Trust me, I lived in hell for two years and your training didn't even come close. Perhaps you should experience it for yourself."

With that, Marie sent out Darkrai. The color from Stone's face began to drain as the Legendary Pokemon loomed towards him.

"Experience my hell." Marie said to Stone. "Darkrai, attack with Dark Void!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** We'll leave it there for now. I suppose this would be a good place to end this story. But there are a couple more parts to this origin story I think should be told before I get to the second story in this trilogy. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


	6. Bitter Reunion

**Author's Note:** This next chapter is basically a rewritten version of the third chapter of my other story, Trial of the Phoenix, done from Marie's perspective.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 6: Bitter Reunion

It had been six months since Marie had been promoted to the rank of an elite Team Rocket agent. During that time she had investigated the suspicious activities of several Team Rocket members, and almost every one of them had been punished with Darkrai's Dark Void attack. That night in the forests of the Johto Region between Goldenrod City and Ecruteak City, Marie had dealt with a pair of very incompetent agents named Jessie and James, as well as their talking Pokemon, Meowth. It was perhaps the easiest assignment that she had been given so far. There was a downside to the mission however; Giovanni had ordered Marie to steal the Pikachu of a trainer that Jessie and James had been pursuing.

Marie hated the whole idea of stealing another person's Pokemon, and she had somehow managed to avoid doing it since joining Team Rocket. But it seemed that she could avoid it no longer. Marie had sent Murkrow to spot her target from the air. After only ten minutes Murkrow had returned and was leading Marie to where her unwanted quarry was. It was not a long walk to where the target was, and in the light of the moon and stars above Marie could make out three campers in sleeping bags from where she was standing in the bushes.

"Okay, let's do this." Marie said to Zoroark, who had been following alongside Marie through the forest. "Time for their wakeup call."

Zoroark nodded and started rustling around in the bushes. The rustling caused one of the campers, a girl with red hair, to awaken and sit up in her sleeping bag.

"Is somebody there?" the redhead asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

Her question was quickly answered when Zoroark suddenly leapt from the nearby bushes and roared. The sudden appearance of the monster fox caused the other two campers to awaken.

"What Pokemon is that?" asked one of the campers, who seemed to be a boy a little older than ten.

"I've seen a picture of that Pokemon once before. I think it's called a Zoroark." Another female camper answered. Marie thought that she recognized the voice, but she brushed it off.

"Well, well, it seems that someone in this group is quite knowledgeable." Marie said as she emerged from her hiding place.

At that moment Marie took a good look at the three campers. The first one she had noticed was the redhead from before. Her hair was tied in an odd side ponytail of some kind, and she was wearing a yellow shirt with denim shorts and red suspenders. The second of the three campers was the boy who had asked about Zoroark's identity. He had black hair and was wearing a black shirt under a blue jacket with short white sleeves, and a pair of jeans. As he got to his feet he put on a ball cap that was white on the front and had a black L-shaped logo.

Standing at the boy's feet was a yellow rodent-like creature with long pointed ears that had yellow tips, and large red circles on its cheeks. Its tail was in the shape of a lightning bolt. Marie knew this creature to be a Pikachu, the Pokemon that Marie had been sent to obtain. At last Marie took a look at the third camper in the group, and was completely shocked when she saw who it was. The person was a girl who looked to be about fourteen, with long raven hair and eyes like emeralds and wearing a red t-shirt and denim shorts.

Marie recognized the girl right away as the close friend who had betrayed her years before, Lisa Flare. Of all the people Marie could've encountered on this particular mission, she never imagined that she'd run into Lisa. And what surprised Marie most was that she was afraid that Lisa would recognize her.

"W-what're you…?" Marie began to ask as she backed away from Lisa and the other two.

"Who are you?" Lisa demanded to know.

"You… don't know who I am?" Noir Mask said in a surprised tone.

"I think I'd remember seeing someone like you before. Now who are you?" Lisa demanded again.

Marie's lips curved into an amused smirk. She couldn't believe that Lisa didn't know who she was. In fact it amused her a bit, but also made her angry. It ticked Marie off that after all the years they knew each other that Lisa couldn't recognize her voice or detect some aspect of her manner or appearance that would be a major clue. Still, Marie knew that the fact that Lisa didn't recognize her made things a little less complicated. Marie decided to go with the flow.

"I am Noir Mask, a special agent of Team Rocket!" Marie announced. "Care to tell me who you are?"

"Lisa Flare." Lisa replied. "I've heard about Team Rocket since coming to this region. You're all a bunch of thieves who steal Pokemon, right?"

"…What of it?" Marie asked coldly.

"Stealing and abusing Pokemon the way you people do. You're nothing but scum!" Lisa declared. "I can't stand people like you!"

"Yes, I'm sure you're merciless to thieves, even if you know them personally." Marie responded with a hint of bile in her voice. "Anyway, I was assigned the mission of acquiring your friend's Pikachu."

"You're not getting Pikachu!" the boy proclaimed.

"We'll see about that." Marie said to him. "But first I'd like to take on your friend Lisa in battle."

"I'm in no mood to fight scum like you right now!" Lisa declared. "Go Entei!"

Emerging from the thrown ball with a roar was a very large brown lion-like creature with a cream-colored underside. It had white paws and on the sides of its back were large spiked grey plates. In between those plates like a cape was something that looked like billowing grey smoke. The creature had an almost mask-like face with a three-pointed yellow plate on its forehead, red plates on the sides, and a white mustache-like plate on the front of its snout. Both Marie and Zoroark were greatly startled by the appearance of this creature, which Marie knew to be one of Johto's great Legendary Pokemon.

"Entei? How did you…?" Marie began to ask.

"Roar Entei!" Lisa commanded. Entei let out a great roar that frightened Zoroark and caused it to go back into its Pokeball.

"Use Thunder Bolt Pikachu!" the boy commanded.

"Pik… a… CHU!" the little electric rodent cried as it shot off a large bolt of yellow lightning.

The attack hit the ground right in front of Marie, creating a huge cloud of dust. Lisa called Entei back to its ball while the redhead grabbed an egg-shaped creature that Marie had noticed earlier and recognized as a Togepi. The group then took the opportunity and ran off, and by the time the dust in front of Marie cleared they were gone. Marie hit a nearby tree with her fist in frustration.

"How could she be here?" Marie asked herself. "How?"

With Lisa and the others long gone, Marie decided to leave. She thought about chasing after them, but the situation had become a little too overwhelming. Marie felt like she needed a break. Marie walked through another part of the forest until she came to a small cave. She went in and sat against the wall of the cave entrance to rest. The once simple mission to eliminate two incompetent Team Rocket agents and capture a Pikachu had become far more complicated.

The thing that complicated matters most was running into Lisa, and the fact that she had somehow captured the fabled Entei. Marie thought over and over about what to do. She knew that Giovanni was expecting her to report back. In the end Marie decided that she had no choice and pulled out a silver disc with a blue orb on top. She set the disc on the ground, and in moments it projected up a bluish hologram of Giovanni.

"Report." Giovanni ordered.

"There's been an unexpected development in the mission sir." Marie reported. "One of the trainers accompanying the boy with the Pikachu has an Entei in her possession."

"What?" Giovanni said with a look of surprise.

"Unfortunately I was unprepared for this and they managed to get away." Marie added. "For that I apologize."

"It is understandable I suppose." Giovanni told her. "This changes things greatly. As of now you are to forget about the Pikachu and focus your efforts in acquiring Entei. That is now your top priority."

"Understood sir." Marie replied, and with that the hologram of Giovanni vanished. Marie's lips curved into a somewhat insane grin. "Well my dear Lisa, it looks like things have turned out better than I could've imagined. Soon we'll finally settle the score between us."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I had my doubts about doing this chapter. It was kind of a breeze to do, since with most of it all I had to do was copy and paste, and then just make a few alterations and put in a few more details. But my biggest problem about doing this chapter was that I'd also be leaving out a few other things. My hope is that all of you reading have either already read Trial of the Phoenix, or will go read it after reading this chapter. Because at the moment it's the only way to get the whole story.

This is where your reviews would be really helpful, so please review and let me know what you think.


	7. Vengeance Denied

**Author's Note:** I had to do a bit of a rethink with this story. This next chapter is basically a summery of the stuff that happened in Trial of the Phoenix from Marie's perspective, so in a way it's kind of a spoiler for Trial of the Phoenix. In the end though, it seemed that I didn't really have any choice but to do this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 7: Vengeance Denied

The dawn had come to the forests of Johto, and Marie had since gotten back on the trail of Lisa and her two friends. She had started back at their campsite. The three had left in such a hurry the night before that they had left their belongings behind. And those items were just what Marie needed to go after them. In her six months of working as an elite agent, Marie had trained Houndoom to track people by scent.

Houndoom had gotten a good whiff of the items, and in moments it, Marie, and Zoroark were hot on Lisa's trail. It was not long before Marie had found Lisa and her two companions, and she decided that it would be best to ambush them. She and Zoroark waited from behind a tree while Houndoom hid in the bushes. Marie could hear Lisa and her friends talking as the approached.

"Hey Lisa, call me crazy but it seemed like Noir Mask knew who you were." Lisa's redheaded female companion noted. "In fact it seemed like she really hated you for some reason. Are you sure she didn't seem familiar to you at all?"

"I think I'd remember meeting someone like her before." Lisa told her. "And in any case it doesn't really matter. All we need to worry about is fighting her off."

Marie found that she was still enraged by the fact that Lisa didn't know who she was. It made Marie want to make Lisa suffer even more. As soon as Lisa and her two friends got close enough, Houndoom jumped out at them from the bushes and growled.

"A Houndoom!" the redhead observed.

"I wonder if it's wild?" the boy with the Pikachu asked.

"Now!" Marie whispered to Zoroark from behind the tree. The monster fox leapt out and joined Houndoom, answering the boy's earlier question.

"We meet again my dear Lisa." Marie said as she walked out from behind the tree. "It was wise to leave your things behind when you escaped last night. Too bad I was able to use those items have my little Houndoom track you by your scent."

"You're not getting Pikachu!" the boy declared.

"Oh please, I'm no longer interested in acquiring your little electric friend." Marie told him. "Since our little encounter last night my mission has changed. I've now been ordered to acquire Entei."

"Well if you want to steal Entei, you'll have to go through me!" Lisa proclaimed.

"I was hoping you would say that Lisa." Marie said with a sort of sinister glee.

Before a battle could begin, the riff of an electric guitar suddenly filled the air. The group looked around and saw standing at the foot of a nearby hill was a young man who looked to be in his early teens with spiky blond hair. He was wearing a black t-shirt, a yellow vest, faded jeans, and a pair of sunglasses. The young man held the red electric guitar that the group had heard moments ago. Standing next to the young man was a Pokemon that resembled a lion. It was mostly blue, but had a mane of black fur and additional black fur on its front legs, rear, and tail. Its eyes were red and gold, and on the tip of its tail was what looked like a four-pointed star.

"Well what do we have here?" the young man said. "Here my pal Luxray and I were out for a stroll in this forest and we find a girl in a mask trying to hold up some innocent travelers."

"Who are you?" Marie demanded to know.

"Me? I'm the bad-ass rocker of Sinnoh, Bolt Hanson." The stranger proudly announced. "Now why don't you just lay off these nice people?"

"This is no business of yours, so get lost!" Marie told him. "Otherwise your life will become very unpleasant."

"That kind of talk makes me want to butt in even more." Bolt said as he took out a decorative Pokeball. "In fact I see this as a good chance to use the Pokemon I caught just a few days ago. Let's rock Raikou!"

Emerging from the ball that Bolt had thrown was a yellow saber-toothed cat with black stripes. It had red eyes, and over its nose was what looked like a blue X. Adorning its forehead was a dark-grey crest, and on its back was something that looked like a purple thundercloud. Its thin tail looked like a light-blue lightning bolt. Raikou roared at the group after emerging from the ball.

"Impossible!" Marie shouted. "First Entei and now Raikou?"

"My new friend here is the legendary Raikou told of in song and story." Bolt confirmed. "But I don't know anything about Entei."

"She's talking about this. Go Entei!" Lisa interrupted as she threw out her Pokeball. Entei roared as it emerged from the thrown ball.

"Okay, that's a weird coincidence." Bolt noted. Meanwhile the Togepi the redhead was holding began waving its stubby little arms back and forth.

"Zoroark, Houndoom, return." Marie commanded as she called her two Pokemon back to their balls. She then pulled out Darkrai's Pokeball.

"What, are you going to try and catch us all with that Master Ball?" Bolt joked.

"This Master Ball contains my secret weapon." Marie told him "One of my most trusted Pokemon. Go… Darkrai!"

Darkria emerged from the thrown ball. Lisa, her two friends, and the meddler known as Bolt all went a bit pale upon seeing the dark Pokemon of legend. Even Entei and Raikou seemed to become a little afraid.

"No way… a Darkrai?" Bolt said with a hint of fear in his voice.

"You've seen that Pokemon before?" asked the boy with the Pikachu.

"Only in books with ghost stories." Bolt told him. "It's a Legendary Pokemon from my home region of Sinnoh. They say it puts people to sleep and gives them an endless nightmare."

"Where did she get a Pokemon like that?" Lisa asked.

"In hell." Marie answered with a psychotic grin. "And in a moment you'll all experience my hell first hand. Darkrai, hit them with Dark Void!"

Darkrai raised its arms and between its hands formed a ball of black energy. At the same time, Togepi continued to wave its arms back and forth. The shadowy Pokemon threw the ball, which split apart into several more balls. But seconds before the balls could hit, Togepi's arms flashed and suddenly Lisa and the others vanished in a flash of white light. Darkrai's attack hit the ground where they once stood. Marie looked at the suddenly vacant spot with a shocked expression and suddenly cried out in frustration.

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" Marie shouted as she hit the tree she was standing next to with her fist over and over again. "So close… I was so CLOSE!"

With that last punch Marie stood there breathing heavily for a moment. As she started to regain her composure she took her fist away and looked at her knuckles. Blood had soaked through the white glove on her hand. All the time Darkrai had been looking at her with silent concern.

"I'm fine Darkrai." Marie assured the Legendary Pokemon. "I'm just really frustrated right now. After all this time I've come close to making Lisa pay for what she did to me and she's managed to get away from me two times…. But she won't be so lucky a third time."

With that, Marie tended to her injured hand and replaced her glove with a spare she had. She then called back Darkrai and got out the metal disc to contact Giovanni. Marie did not want to tell Giovanni of what had happened, but she knew that Giovanni would call her himself if too much time had passed.

"Report." The hologram of Giovanni commanded as soon as it flickered on.

"There's been another complication sir." Marie reported. "The trainer with the Pikachu and his companion with Entei have been joined by another trainer who has somehow managed to capture Raikou. And unfortunately they managed to get away."

"So now a trainer with Raikou has appeared." Giovanni observed. "Hmm… perhaps Suicune will appear next. For now only observe and report. I will be heading to Ecruteak myself. Inform me of any developments until I arrive."

Marie gritted her teeth a bit in frustration. She did not like the idea of just standing by and watching when her chance of getting back at Lisa was so close, but again she knew she had no choice.

"Yes sir." Marie responded, and with that the hologram vanished. "So now I can only watch…. Okay then, I've waited this long to settle things with Lisa. I guess I can wait a little while longer."

* * *

Some time later Marie had gotten back on the trail of Lisa and her companions and followed them to Ecruteak City. She had followed the discreetly until they had reached the Ecruteak City Gym. Once, there, a man with slightly long blond hair wearing a blue headband, a light-blue long-sleeved shirt, and black pants had greeted Lisa and her three friends. Marie had recognized the man from an article she once read as the city's gym leader, Morty. Morty had led the four inside, so Marie decided to try and se if she could continue to watch them from the roof.

The roof of the gym had an open skylight, which Marie right away went over to. The room that the skylight was over was the gym's stadium, and was with luck that Morty had led Lisa and the other three to that very room. There in the room waiting for the group was a brown-haired man wearing a purple tuxedo and white cape. Once they had gathered, Marie had overheard most of their conversation. There were a few parts of that conversation that Marie had missed, but she had been able to find out everyone's names.

Marie found out that the boy with the Pikachu was named Ash, and the redhead holding the Togepi was named Misty. The man in the cape and tuxedo meanwhile was known as Eusine. Marie was also able to learn of the reason Lisa and her friends had gone to the gym, and of the possible explanation for Lisa and Bolt capturing Entei and Raikou. She sighed and activated the holographic disc to contact Giovanni.

"Any new developments to report?" Giovanni asked as soon as his hologram flickered on.

"Yes sir. It seems that it may not be a coincidence that the two trainers that have captured Entei and Raikou have shown up in the same place." Marie answered. "Apparently there is a prophecy that says that Entei, Raikou, and Suicune will choose three trainers to become their partners. It is said that once the partners are chosen, the Pokemon Ho-Oh will then appear at Ecruteak's Tin Tower to test a certain trainer."

"I see, so are you certain this prophecy might be true?" Giovanni asked.

"As hard to believe as it sounds, there are too many coincidences at work sir." Marie pointed out.

"Well then, the Legendary Beasts are one thing, but Ho-Oh is another prize all together." Giovanni said with a sinister grin. "Continue to observe and report. I will be arriving in the city in a few hours. Until then keep me informed of any changes."

"Yes sir." Marie replied, and with that the hologram disappeared.

* * *

Since her last conversation with Giovanni, Marie had witnessed Misty's capture of the legendary beast Suicune and heard the bells from the Tin Tower that signaled the arrival of Ho-Oh. She had managed to follow Lisa and the others to the Tin Tower, where she had been able to hear the revelation that Ash was the trainer Ho-Oh intended to test. As soon as Ash had begun his climb to the Tin Tower, Marie was contacted by Giovanni's helicopter and was told that it would soon be landing just outside the city. Marie was then given the coordinates; they were not that far from the tower. As quickly as she could Marie headed for the landing sight.

Marie stood and watched as the large black helicopter landed a few feet away from her. As soon as it landed, Giovanni stepped out accompanied by his Persian and ten Team Rocket grunts.

"Any new developments to report?" Giovanni asked.

"Suicune was captured not too long ago." Marie reported. "Right now the trainer that former members Jessie and James were chasing, Ash Ketchum, is heading to the top of the Tin Tower to await Ho-Oh. At least that's what I've heard."

"Well then, I think we should head over to the Tin Tower ourselves." Giovanni said with a sinister grin. "Once Ho-Oh lands at the tower we'll strike. First we shall take the Legendary Beasts, then Ho-Oh itself!"

"I suggest we get moving then sir." Marie pointed out. "I suspect it won't be long until Ho-Oh makes its appearance."

"Then by all means, lead the way." Giovanni instructed.

Marie took Giovanni and his men to the Tin Tower. When they arrived they waited behind the nearby trees and watched as Lisa, Misty, Bolt, Morty, and Eusine waited in front of the tower for something to happen. Waiting with the five were all three of the Legendary Beats. After a few moments of waiting the bells of the Tin Tower rang for a second time.

"Sir, up there!" one of the grunts said to Giovanni.

Marie, Giovanni, and the rest of the gang looked up and saw a massive bird flying towards the tower. It was red with a white underside and had green band around its long neck. Shimmering green feathers rimmed its wings, while its tail was made completely of golden feathers. The great bird had black rings around its eyes, and a gold comb adorned the top of its head.

"Ho-Oh." Giovanni said with an evil grin. "Alright, we strike now. Go and introduce us Noir Mask."

"Yes sir." Marie replied with a smirk before heading out.

"I wish we could be up there with Ash." Misty said to Lisa and the others with a worried expression.

"Ash and Pikachu have to face this challenge on their own." Morty told her.

"Besides, you five have your own problems to worry about." Marie interrupted as she stepped into view, getting their attention.

"Whoever you are, leave now!" Morty commanded. "This is no place for the likes of you!"

"You're in no position to be making demands I'm afraid." Giovanni said as he, Persian, and the ten men he had brought with joined Marie.

"Who are you?" Eusine demanded to know.

"I am Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket. And as you may have guessed, I have come for Ho-Oh and the Legendary Beasts." Giovanni explained. "I suggest you hand over those beasts and allow us to enter the Tin Tower. Otherwise things will become very unpleasant."

"Dream on creep!" Bolt declared.

"So you've chosen to do things the hard way I see." Giovanni said with an amused expression before snapping his fingers. Within moments the Team Rocket grunts surrounded the group. "I'll give you one more chance. As my former underlings used to say, surrender now or prepare to fight."

"C'mon Morty, we can take these guys!" Eusine declared. "Go Alakazam!"

Emerging from the Pokeball thrown by Eusine was a somewhat humanoid creature with a large fox-like head that had a long mustache. Its torso, lower legs, and forearms were brown, while the rest of its body was tan. In each hand it carried a large spoon.

"You take on half, I'll take the rest." Morty told Eusine. "Go Gengar!"

Emerging from the thrown ball was a black almost spherical creature with short arms and legs. Its back was covered with spiked fur and its face consisted of two red eyes and a sinister grin. The Rocket grunts all responded by sending out several floating grayish-purple balls with faces on them. The creatures looked similar to Wheezing.

"A bunch of Koffing huh? This'll be a piece of cake." Eusine said confidently.

As Morty and Eusine began fighting off the Koffing, Misty, Lisa, and Bolt, were left to face Giovanni and Marie.

"I'll let my men handle your friends." Giovanni said to the trio. "In the meantime you three still have us to deal with."

"Sir, I would like to take on Lisa Flare, the girl with Entei, myself." Marie requested.

"By all means, go ahead." Giovanni replied. "The other two are more than enough to keep me occupied."

"Thank you sir." Marie said with a somewhat insane smile. "Now we can finally settle things dear Lisa. Go Zweilos!"

Emerging from the thrown ball was a Pokemon that looked like Deino, only larger and with a second head and tattered wings. Deino had evolved into Zweilos shortly before Marie dealt with Jessie and James, the two Team Rocket members she had originally been sent to investigate.

"I have no clue what you're talking about, but fine with me!" Lisa told Marie. "Go Entei!"

Entei roared and charged at Zweilos. War broke out all around as Giovanni began to do battle with Misty and Bolt while Eusine and Morty fought the grunts.

"Use Flamethrower!" Lisa commanded.

Entei breathed out a stream of fire at Zweilos. However the two-headed dragon dodged the attack and flew around to the left side.

"Dark Pulse!" Marie commanded.

Zweilos fired streams of black energy rings from both its mouths, hitting Entei in the side. But when the smoke cleared Entei looked relatively unharmed.

"Nice move, but not good enough!" Lisa declared. "Use Fire Spin!"

Entei breathed out another stream of flames from its mouth. But rather than hitting Zweilos directly, the flames surrounded the two-headed dragon, creating a tornado of fire.

"Your dragon isn't going to be going anywhere for awhile." Lisa said to Marie. "I'm actually surprised that you aren't using Darkrai for this battle."

"There are a few too many people around for me to use Darkrai." Marie told her. "Besides, I think Zweilos is more than enough to stop you. Use Dragon Rush!"

Zweilous suddenly burst forth from the tornado of fire, its body shrouded in blue light. The dragon then rammed into Entei with incredible force. But the beast of fire quickly recovered and got back to its feet.

"Now use Dragon Breath!" Marie commanded.

Zweilos hit Entei with blasts of green flames from both heads. Entei was hit by the attack and suddenly seemed to have trouble moving.

"Oh dear, that's what happens sometimes when my darling Zweilos uses Dragon Breath!" Marie laughed madly. "Sometimes the opponent becomes paralyzed. Now Zweilos, hit Entei with Dragon Rush!"

Zweilos's body became shrouded in blue light once again as it charged at Entei.

"Fight back with Stomp!" Lisa commanded.

Seconds before Zweilos rammed into Entei, the beast of fire recovered somewhat and raised its right front leg. It brought that leg back down on Zweilos with such force that the dragon was crushed into the ground.

"It won't be that easy to beat me Noir!" Lisa declared. "I don't know what your problem with me is, but I'm taking you down!"

"…You really don't know, do you?" Marie said in a cold tone. "You know I'm actually really hurt that you haven't realized…. But in the end I guess it doesn't matter. Very soon I'm going to make you pay for what you've done."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Lisa demanded to know.

Before Marie could answer, everyone heard the beating of a pair of massive wings from atop the tower. The noise made everyone stop fighting and look up. Descending from the top of the tower was Ho-Oh, and riding on its back were Ash and Pikachu. Giovanni chuckled sinisterly at the site.

"Well, I must say I'm impressed young man!" Giovanni called up to Ash. "It seems you were able to capture the great Ho-Oh. You've just saved my men and I a lot of trouble. Now hand Ho-Oh over to me!"

"No way!" Ash declared. "Why do you want Ho-Oh anyway?"

"Why that's obvious!" Giovanni said with amusement. "To become the strongest force imaginable. With Ho-Oh and the Legendary Beasts at our disposal Team Rocket will become the strongest power in the world! No one will be able to stand against us!"

"And what about all the Pokemon you'll end up hurting?" Ash asked. "Don't you care about that?"

"As long as those Pokemon do what we tell them I don't care one bit how they feel!" Giovanni laughed. "All that matters is how well they serve us!"

"You monster!" Ash shouted.

At that moment Ho-Oh suddenly flew down at Giovanni at incredible speed. It shrieked and its eyes lit up with a blue light. Suddenly, a bright blue light that had expanded from Ho-Oh enveloped Ash, Pikachu, and Giovanni. The flash was so bright that Marie and everyone else had to shield their eyes. The flash only lasted for ten seconds, and when it cleared Ash and Pikachu both had very confused expressions on their faces. . Giovanni meanwhile looked up at them with an expression of terror.

"No… it can't be!" Giovanni said as all the color drained from his face. "I-I never wanted… but that means… if this vision is true…. We're retreating at once!"

"Sir?" one of the grunts asked in confusion.

"You heard me, this mission is canceled!" Giovanni ordered. "Now move out!"

Many of the grunts looked at each other in confusion. Marie meanwhile gritted her teeth and called back Zweilos.

"You heard him, now move!" Marie ordered the grunts. The grunts then began calling back their Pokemon. Meanwhile Marie looked back at Lisa. "I guess we'll have to settle this another time dear Lisa."

With that, Noir Mask began walking away with the grunts. Giovanni and Persian joined them after Giovanni had taken one last look at Ash. Within minutes they arrived back at the helicopter. Once everyone had gotten aboard, the helicopter took off and headed back to Kanto.

"Sir, forgive me for asking, but why did you call off the mission?" Marie asked Giovanni as she looked at him from the chair right across from his.

"…Ho-Oh showed me something in that flash of light." Giovanni answered. "Something that I do not want to happen…. But if it does happen, Ash Ketchum may be my only hope of stopping it…. Which is why from this moment on, all members of Team Rocket will avoid confrontations with Ketchum if possible, understood?"

"…Yes sir." Marie replied.

As the helicopter continued to fly on, Marie kept trying to figure out just what Giovanni had seen that made him back down from trying to steal Ho-Oh and the Legendary Beasts. But in the end she didn't really care. All Marie knew was that she had missed out on her chance to get back at Lisa, and for all she knew it was the only chance she was ever going to get.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry if this chapter seemed like it jumped around a bit. As I said up top, this is pretty much a spoiler for Trial of the Phoenix. I originally didn't plan to do this chapter, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like I needed to show Marie and Lisa's first actual battle. Still, there are quite a few things from Trial of the Phoenix that I did leave out, such as Ash catching Ho-Oh and the thing that Giovanni saw in that flash of light. So it still might be a good idea to read Trial of the Phoenix since these two stories are connected.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	8. Behind the Mask

**Author's Note:** This chapter is more or less an epilogue, but this story is far from over.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon (if I did, some of the characters would be a little more complex).

* * *

Chapter 8: Behind the Mask

It had been a week since the mission in Ecruteak City, and Marie had already been assigned a special mission. Giovanni had sent Marie to Mount Chimney in the Hoenn Region, where she was to try and acquire a special meteorite that was rumored to be in the possession of an organization known as Team Magma. It was early in the morning when Marie parachuted from a plane that flew over the volcanic mountain. As soon as she landed at the mountain's foot she began the slow climb to the top. The ash and soot from the volcano covered her cape and uniform as she went up.

During the assent, all Marie could think about was how she had missed out on what was most likely her one shot at revenge against Lisa. Marie wanted more than anything to go out and hunt Lisa down, not to mention go after her cousin Andre, but she knew that neither of those things was possible. Though she was an elite agent of Team Rocket, she still had to follow orders in order to survive in the organization. And Marie knew that she could not simply leave Team Rocket whenever she wanted. Like it or not, she was stuck in her current role.

After a few hours of climbing, Marie had made it to the top. The sweltering heat from the volcano's molten lava was overwhelming. Marie felt like she was back at Scorch Gate Prison. Immediately upon arriving at the top, Marie saw that the top of the volcano was crawling with men and women wearing mostly red uniforms that had hoods with little black horns on top of them. On the chests of these uniforms was a black shape that resembled a letter M.

Marie quickly ducked behind a large rock to avoid being seen and started looking around for her target. She quickly noticed a large red machine near the end of a small cliff directly over the pit of lava. Marie deduced that whatever the machine was it contained the meteorite she had been ordered to retrieve. She then began quickly devising how best to get to the machine.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a voice suddenly said. Marie turned and saw a man approaching wearing a uniform similar to the other Team Magma members, only his seemed to have a cape. "It looks like we have a rat that's trying to sneak in and ruin our operation."

"I'm really not in the mood to deal with the likes of you." Marie sighed. "I've had a bad week."

"Well too bad, because I'm about to make your week even worse." The man said with a sinister grin. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Tabitha, one of the strongest members of Team Magma. And I'm going to make your life a living hell."

"…It already is." Marie said coldly.

"If you say so." Tabitha shrugged as he pulled out two Pokeballs. "Go, Golbat and Mightyena!"

The first Pokemon that emerged from one of the two balls Tabitha threw was a large blue bat with purple wings. The rest of its body was essentially a single head with a large mouth, two small eyes, two small pointed ears, and a pair of tiny legs on the bottom. The other Pokemon that emerged, Mightyena, was a light-grey dog-like creature with black fur covering its back, tail, and legs.

"Go, Zweilos and Pawniard!" Marie called as she threw out two Pokeballs of her own.

As soon as Zweilos and Pawniard emerged from their balls, both of them began to glow with a white light and change shape. Zweilos had grown in size and gained a third head. All three heads had visible eyes and growths around them that resembled flower petals. The dragon had also gained two more pairs of black tattered wings, and its legs had receded into useless growths. Pawniard, meanwhile, had grown to five feet and its body became more developed. Part of the blade on its head had turned gold, and the blades on its arms had turned to white glove-like hands with curved blades protruding from the wrists.

"I see, so they evolved into Hydreigon and Bisharp." Tabitha observed. "Well, I enjoy a challenge. Golbat, use Supersonic!"

The large bat screeched and sent out a ring of high-pitched sound at Hydreigon and Bisharp. The two Pokemon quickly managed to get out of the way, however.

"Dark Pulse Hydreigon!" Marie commanded. The three-headed dragon fired black energy rings from all three of its mouths, all of which hit Golbat and knocked it to the ground. "Now use Iron Head Bisharp!"

The blade on Bisharp's head began to glow with a white light. It then lunged at Mightyena and rammed into it from the right side. Tabitha called back his two Pokemon with an irritated expression on his face.

"So you think you're hot stuff, huh?" Tabitha asked angrily. "Well let's see if you can take on all of us!"

With that, Tabitha whistled, getting the attention of the Team Magma grunts all around. As the small army began to converge, Marie pulled out a certain Pokeball and sent out Darkrai. The members of Team Magma all froze. Even Tabitha looked on at the Legendary Pokemon in terror.

"All of you… can experience my hell!" Marie shouted. "Darkrai, hit them all with Dark Void!"

Darkrai raised its arms up and formed a ball of black energy between its hands. It then threw the ball, which suddenly split apart into smaller balls and hit all of the members of Team Magma. They all fell to the ground asleep, caught in a terrible nightmare. Marie and Darkrai went over to the red machine on the cliff. Marie opened a panel on the front of the device and found the meteorite she had been sent to obtain. After pulling the meteorite out of the machine, she got out a cell phone and hit a single button. A few moments of ringing passed and soon Giovanni picked up.

"Report Noir Mask." Giovanni ordered from the other end of the line.

"I have the meteorite sir." Marie informed him. "We were right about it being in the possession of Team Magma, but they have been neutralized."

"Good work." Giovanni told her. "There should be a team waiting at the Jagged Pass to pick you up in a few hours. For now go there and wait."

"Yes sir." Marie replied before hanging up.

With the meteorite in hand, Marie called back Darkrai and began to head down the volcanic mountain. As Marie began her climb down, she once again thought about her current situation. Marie had long ago realized that by joining Team Rocket she had merely traded one hell for another. By making that deal with Giovanni to get out of Scorch Gate, Marie had bound herself to an organization that she loathed. Yet Marie knew that there was no longer any turning back.

It was perhaps for the best that Marie had long ago given up hope of ever regaining a normal life. For hope and despair are two sides of the same coin, thus one cannot exist without the other. By giving up hope, one can become numb to the despair and agony of hell. Marie had excepted that she had trapped herself in Team Rocket, and the only things keeping her going was her desire for revenge against Lisa and Andre. She did not know if she would ever get another chance at revenge, but until she did she would continue to loyally serve Team Rocket as Noir Mask.

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

**Author's Note:** That line towards the end about despair not being able to exist without hope was borrowed from The Dark Knight Rises. Anyway, I'm not sure why I decided to have Marie fight Team Magma in this last chapter. I more or less wanted to show one more mission where two more of Marie's Pokemon would evolve and the part in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald where the player has to stop one of the two evil teams at the top of that volcano popped into my mind. And it seemed that the volcano plot was more like something Team Magma would do. Well, we've seen the rise, now comes the revenge.

Stay tuned for my next story, and the second part of this trilogy: **Revenge of Noir Mask**

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


End file.
